GoKawiilVisit the News Hub News Release How early-life stress leaves a ‘scar’ inside brain cells Mouse study finds changes to DNA packaging form molecular memory of trauma, make brain vulnerable to future stress by Marta Wegorzewska•August 7, 2026 Sara Moser/WashU Medicine Inside cells, DNA is coiled like a slinky. As the DNA slinky stretches and opens, genes are more easily accessible to be turned on. WashU Medicine researchers found that stress in early life stretches the genetic slinky, leaving a lasting effect on the brain that makes a person more vulnerable to stress later in life.
Experiencing severe stress during childhood can make a person more vulnerable to anxiety, depression and other mood disorders when faced with hardships as an adult. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Princeton University have now uncovered how trauma early in life can leave a lasting effect on the brain.
Scientists already knew that stress early on in life changes the activity of genes in the brain. In a new study, the research team discovered that this is due to alterations in how brain cells package DNA, leaving the brain’s genetic stress response vulnerable to being turned on easily and reducing tolerance to stress.
The study was published Aug. 7 in Neuron.
“We have uncovered a new biological process linking experience of early-life adversity to this long-term vulnerability to mental illness,” said Meaghan Creed, PhD, an associate professor of anesthesiology at WashU Medicine and the study’s co-corresponding author. “This finding reveals a physical scar left by trauma experienced during development inside brain cells, providing scientists with a concrete biological target to develop new treatments and interventions.”
Stress stretches the genetic slinky
More than half of the world’s children are exposed to early-life stress from abuse, household dysfunction such as violence or drug use, or other traumatic experiences. Accumulation of four or more such experiences can trigger much higher risks for long-term mental and physical health challenges in adulthood.
The researchers set out to understand how trauma during early development physically changes the brain to make it more sensitive to stress later in life. They focused on a region of the brain called the ventral tegmental area where brain cells that produce dopamine — a chemical messenger — are responsible for processing important things in the environment, including rewards and adversity. When these brains cells are activated abnormally, which can happen in response to stress, they disrupt how the brain processes rewards, leaving individuals vulnerable to anxiety and depression.
Within dopamine-producing neurons the researchers zoomed in on the epigenome, a set of molecular tags that direct the cell’s machinery to turn genes on and off, which in turn affects cells’ activity.
Inside cells, DNA is coiled like a slinky, explained Catherine Jensen Peña, PhD, an assistant professor at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute and the study’s senior and co-corresponding author. The DNA coils are wrapped around histone proteins that help determine how tightly or loosely the coil is wound. When the genetic slinky is compressed, its genes are turned off. As the DNA slinky stretches and opens, genes are more easily accessible to be turned on.
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